Renaissance

Renaissance were an English progressive rock band popular in the 1970s.

Former Yardbirds members Paul Samwell-Smith, Keith Relf, and Jim McCarty? organised a new group devoted to experimentation between rock, folk, and classical forms. This quintet (bassist Louis Cennamo, pianist John Hawken, and Relf's sister Jane Relf as an additional vocalist) released a pair of albums on Elektra (US) and Island (UK), but dissolved quickly, leaving McCarty? to reform the band into a very different lineup, though McCarty? also soon departed.

The lineup that was eventually settled on was the best-known of the band's history, and consisted of Annie Haslam (vocals), Michael Dunford (acoustic guitar), John Tout (piano), Jon Camp (bass/vocals) and Terry Sullivan (drums). This new Renaissance -- with Dunford in a composer-only role for the time being, and Rob Hendry (electric guitar) filling the guitarist's chair -- released Prologue in 1972. The music was written by Dunford and Mc...